Missing One of Our Own
by ShinningLikeAChandelier
Summary: The team is out investigating a crime scene when Eric gets kidnapped. The team has to fight to find him before they are required to turn the case over to another team. Hipphuggers to come later! My first story since 6 years ago! Give this a try :) Reuploaded to fix the strange font and randomly placed sentences! (thank you augus10 for letting me know) So sorry about that.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! First I want to thank you for at least putting in the effort of reading my new story! The last time I post on here was about five/six years ago so I am a little rusty. HOWEVER, I (thankfully) have gotten a lot better at writing since… well… I'm no longer an 8****th**** grader trying to write stories haha. Anyways here goes nothing! I don't know if you guys say this anymore lol but this is a "hiphuggers" fanfic and I really hope you like it! Please review and give me advice or what you want to see more of! LOVE YOU ALL 3**

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It had been three days since Eric had gone missing. The team was starting to grow grim as they had analyzed all of the evidence and cellular data more times than they could count and still had found nothing to help lead them to one of their best agents. The lab had grown soundless on the third day as nobody knew what else could be done at this point. New cases were coming in and this was the teams final day to use the labs resources to find Eric until they needed to hand it over to a different team.

"H?" Ryan gently knocked on Horatio's door. The door pushed open as he knocked to reveal the back of Horatio's office chair facing the window. This is how he had been almost all day. He has hardly said a single word to the team that day as he knew they were depending on him to come up with one of his world famous plans. He had nothing. Ryan took a few steps in to his office and sat down in one of the larger chair adjacent to his desk. Horatio didn't move at all. "Today is the last day and the team is getting worried, what are we going to do?" It was then that Horatio turned around in his chair and removed his sunglasses revealing his visibly tired eyes.

"We send in one of our own" he said simply. Ryan just stared unaware of what he meant or how that would work but he trusted the man in front of him.

"I'll tell the team to meet in the break room" Ryan stated plainly as he rose from his seat and started to walk towards the door. Once he was almost out of the room Horatio said the first convincing thing that Ryan had heard that day.

"We will find him." And with that Ryan turned back around and headed to the various different areas of the building to gather their team.

~Three Days Earlier~

"This place smells terrible" Calleigh huffed with a scrunched up nose, "Why anyone would pick this as a place to meet up is beyond me." She finished. Eric smirked and continued searching the area for some type of indication of a crime. The team had been called out to a location where a murder had occurred. The body had already been analyzed and removed but oddly enough, nothing suggested foul play, or even that the body had been killed in this location.

Calleigh was right though, the place did reek. They were currently under a large over pass in the heart of Miami. The ground was mostly mud with the occasional peak of grass. Graffiti covered the cement pillars holding up the bridge above them. Far towards the end of their crime scene was an opening that lead out to what looked to be a swamp type area. The source of the stench.

"Maybe if you spent more time collecting evidence we wouldn't have to spend as much time smelling it" Eric mumbled under his breath with the same smirk lurking across his face. Calleigh placed her hands on her hips and looked at him with mock hurt. She was a sight to see. Previously she had been wearing a black, fitted, pant suit with a fuchsia silk camisole underneath. Not to mention, in typical Calleigh fashion, five inch stilettos with her usual golden locks falling wavy over her shoulders. Now the small figure before him was wearing her camisole tucked into her rolled up pants with sneakers she kept in the back of her hummer with her gym clothes. He laughed again under his breath as he recalled her trying to walk through the moist ground in her heels. It didn't last very long. Still through all of this she looked absolutely beautiful, even with her hair pulled into a sloppy pony tail.

"How about both of you shut it so we can ALL get out of here sooner!" Natalia yelled from far off taking a picture of a pillar with graffiti on it. The small portion of the team all laughed and got back to collecting evidence. A little while later Horatio and Ryan pulled up in a matching Hummer and joined the team. Horatio stepped away and took a phone call back inside his Hummer as the sound of the rushing cars above made it difficult to hear. After about 20 minutes of continuous searching and evidence collecting the team started heading back to the two Hummers parked in the gravelish area far off from the over pass as not to disturb and evidence.

"Oh wait! I left one of my evidence numbering cards towards the bridge!" Natalia whined. She, much like Calleigh was stuck wearing sneakers and was also not enjoying the humid weather mixed with the terrible smell of swamp water. She started to head off towards the bridge. "I can go grab it for you!" Calleigh smiled "I wanted to ask our graffiti expert here a question about one of the postings I saw anyways!" She finished while nudging Ryan. Ryan had recently exposed his knowledge of graffiti and gang symbols a few cases ago after having been undercover for a month.

"Well in that case, I'm riding back with Horatio!" Natalia said as she hoped into the passenger seat of Horatio's Hummer. He looked at her and finally hung up his phone as they drove back to the lab.

The three of them (Eric, Ryan, and Calleigh) walked back towards the end of the over pass together. "Alright so where is this graffiti Ms. Duquense?" Ryan joked and Calleigh rolled her eyes with a smirk as she started walked towards one of the back walls where she had seen what she though was a gang symbol, scooping up Natalia's evidence numbering card along the way. Eric stood watching the two waiting for them to finish as he was now obligated to stay since they only had one Hummer. They were talking back and forth about a Hispanic gang Eric felt he was oddly familiar with. He joined the two as they discussed this gang and Eric realized where he had known them from.. his father. He was about to make a statement about his when he saw a shadow move out of the corner of his eye from the outside of the underpass. "I'll be right back, just gonna go take a look outside" Eric stated plainly as he motioned to the outside.

"That's not part of the crime scene Delko" Ryan yelled so that he was audible to Eric over the racing cars above. Eric just waved a hand behind them and walked towards the outside. Calleigh rolled her eyes and smiled. Eric never really was one to listen. They continued to talk about this gang when suddenly they heard a gunshot. As if on cue, Ryan and Calleigh both drew their weapons and darted off towards the sound, where Eric had just gone. Calleighs' heart dropped. An odd feeling. Probably just because it was her team mate, she cared about all of her team mates. They made it to the opening where they saw the last glimpse of a man with a black bag over his head being shoved into the back of an unlicensed van. The van immediately sped off a few yards until it was onto a local road and quickly it was gone. Calleigh shot off multiple rounds at the van long after it was out of view. Ryan forcibly lowered her arms and took the gun away and she screamed. He pulled her into a hug even though she resisted at first. She bunched the fabric of Ryan's shirt into her small fists. Ryan knew she was crying but he wouldn't acknowledge it, Calleigh didn't cry. He comforted her with one arm and called Horatio with the other.

"H, they got Eric… The Muerte Trae…" With that he hung up his phone and walked Calleigh back to the Hummer and waited for Horatio to arrive along with backup. It was too late. Now they had a double crime scene.

**Okay guys so that was chapter one! I really hope you guys like it! Also "Muerta Trae" roughly translates to The Death Bringer in Spanish. I couldn't think of a better gang name haha. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright so I actually was surprised that I got reviews on my first chapter! It feels so good to be back so thank all for your support! Here is chapter two! **

The team had spent hours on the scene picking up any kind of evidence they could. Horatio took Calleigh back to the lab to help Trip try to track and pick up any old cell data from Eric's phone. He knew she would be no good in the field right now. The sun was starting to set when Ryan had finally found a blood stained bullet out in the grass. It was fully intact and by the looks of it was from Eric's fire arm. The team headed back to the lab once Horatio had come back and declared it had been searched thoroughly enough. The team all went back to their vehicles while Horatio stayed back for a moment. "We're coming for you Eric, hang in there" he said under his breath as he walked back to his Hummer.

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"Cal?" Natalia said gently as she walked in the lab where Calleigh was seated flipping back and forth between slides. She kept going without acknowledging Natalia's presence. Natalia frowned. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be there and have your team mate taken away without being able to stop it.

"Find anything new?" Calleigh muttered without looking up from the photo she was currently examining. Natalia placed the evidence bag on the table without saying a word. It took a moment but Calleigh finally looked up and made eye contact, and then down at the table. Something hitched in her heart as she saw the blood smudged bullet. Had Eric been shot? She got herself together mentally and picked up the edge of the bag and felt a sigh of relief when she saw it was from Eric's issued weapon. "So the round we heard fired was from Eric. That doesn't help much." Calleigh concluded as she sat back down into her chair still holding the bag, rolling the bullet over between her gloved fingers.

Natalia paused for a moment trying to think of something encouraging to say. She had nothing. She knew just as well as Calleigh did that it really didn't help. Instead she changed the subject. "I thought you were helping Trip with the cell data" Natalia said while bravely taking a seat next to Calleigh. She flipped back to the same image as before and ran it through the system. The photo she had taken of the gang sign.

"I was, but then I got this feeling that I could be doing more." Calleigh paused and pointed at the screen that was currently comparing the photo to different signs a mile a minute. "This was the gang sign I talking about. Ryan is pretty positive that it's the Muerte Trae, I'm running it to see if it matches." She stated simply as her voice trailed off. A match.

"Muerte Trae" Natalia began to read off the screen, "A Cuban based gang, typically centered around Miami. Past crimes tied to Muerte Trae: Murder of Jonathen Chavez. Murder of Leo Despez. Murder of Ryan Jones. Murder of John Reese." Natalia read off the list of murders. Further down it stated that the men convicted for these murders never admitted their ties to the crimes but all had the same matching gang tattoo's on their forearms. Calleigh began to pull up each of the convicted men's files to look for anything that might help them find Eric. Natalia stayed for another hour before heading home. The next day came by and Calleigh was in the same chair, wearing the same outfit. The only thing that had changed was the three coffee cups that sat next to her on the counter. Natalia stood outside the glass wall and watched her for a moment. Ryan came and stood next to her.

"She's been like that for at least an hour now" Wolfe said quietly as not to disturb her. Natalia turned to look at him. "She's been like that since I left last night" Natalia stated matter of factly. Ryan shook his head. He knew it was hitting her hard. She cleaned herself up before the team arrived when he had first gotten taken. He remembered her looking at him while she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and saying 'Don't you dare tell them' in a raspy toned voice. Ryan just shook his head knowingly. They were good that way. They always had an understanding of each other.

They left together and headed back to the lab to examine more of the evidence found to find Eric. The initial crime scene had been put on hold as the John Doe had no identity and no family ties that they could find. They had all hands on deck to find Delko. Seeing as it was already day two, things were not looking good.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The Next Day XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was 3:32 AM, Calleigh had hardly slept in the past two days. She had been going through the profiles of any past offender and any person in general she could fine in affiliation with the Muerte Trae. Something in her gut told her that this was the place to look. The way Eric looked at the gang sign and they way he raised his eye brow when Ryan said it aloud meant something. She had gone through 38 profiles so far and then finally, she found something.

_Vladimir Borislav_

_Age: 38_

_Formally a member of the Russian Mafia, converted to the Muerte Trae in 2000._

A Russian man in a Cuban gang… 'That makes no sense' Calleigh thought to herself. She paused and her eyes darted open. It all finally made sense. She snatched the papers and files off her desk and ran as fast as her feet would carry her to Horatio's office. She knew it was early but she had to tell someone. She reached his office and opened his door without knocking, partially because she didn't think he would be in, and partially because she didn't care at this point. Horatio rose from his seat and looked at the hectic agent before him. "Calleigh…" He asked calmly and then looked down at all of the papers she had clutched to her chest.

"I know who took Eric and I know how to find them." She spilled, her face now pink and her breathing finally catching up to her. He sat back down in his chair and motioned to the chair across from him for her to sit. She stepped forward and laid them all out handing him different papers and pointing out several details. He took it all in. They would formulate a plan and go into action later that day. Help was finally on its way.

**Alright guys so just to clear things up, if you remember, Eric's dad was in trouble with the Russian mob in season 7. So that is where the random Russian name comes in to play. Just a little help for anyone who hasn't watched in a while! Next chapter will all be about Eric and what has been going on these past three days! Please Review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry about the wait! Super caught up in school and getting my transfer papers squared away! Anyways here is chapter three! Thank you for all your support again!**

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_"That's not part of the crime scene Delko" Ryan yelled so that he was audible to Eric over the racing cars above. Eric just waved a hand behind them and walked towards the outside._

Eric hade made it just outside the underpass and could finally feel sun light on his skin. The smell was definitely worse though. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the lighting but once it did he saw a white van with a man smiling through the drivers' seat window. He looked so familiar. He drew his gun and in a calm fashion tried to inform the two men casually walking down the grassy hill towards him that it was a crime scene. "Hey guys this is a crime scene you cannot be down here. Please walk back towards your vehicle." He ordered calmly. They stopped for a moment with their hands up. 'Just some lost civilians' Eric thought as he lowered his weapon. He looked down for just one moment to try and fasten his gun when he saw them approaching again, this time they were chuckling. Eric withdrew his gun and sloppily aimed at one of them and fired. He grazed one of their thighs.

"Shit! You kidding me? This is the shit we get paid to do?" The now injured man yelled with a thick accent. By then the other man had twisted the gun out of Eric's hand while breaking his wrist in the process. Eric grunted in pain. He had no gun, and was now blinded as a black sack had been placed over his head. He felt extremely disoriented all of a sudden. The two men dragged him up the grassy hill so quickly that he had trouble getting his footing. He felt a sharp pain in his shins as the men tried to push him in to the back of the van, shoving his legs into the bumper. He fell inside the back and they pulled his legs in while shutting the door and speeding off.

Eric was now laying on the ground inside the van. The cold metal touching his now throbbing wrist and his neck. He couldn't get his thoughts straight. He just wanted to sleep. The CSI in him was trying to remain calm and figure out what was going on. He took a deep breath and realized what it was. A sweet smell that lined the fabric of the black sack. _Chloroform. _A man ripped the bag off his head and Eric tried to keep his eyes open to take in as much information as he could. The one man he shot was getting yelled out by the other man. They clearly didn't work well together. Eric tried to turn his head to get a better look at the driver. He swore he had seen him before. The man did a double take and made eye contact with the severely dazed Delko. Eric watched has his face morphed into one of pure anger. He slammed the breaks causing everyone in the van to shift positions. "WHY the hell is HE still awake?!" He yelled in pure anger. "I told you muffle him with the chloroform! What is so hard for your idiots to understand about that?" He finished. The two men looked at each other wide eyed pointing blame at whose fault it was. "I thought if we soaked the bag in it it would be the same thing!" One of them stupidly offered as a defense. They continued to go back and forth. Eric still had his eyes on the man in the drivers seat. The man gave a sick smile that almost looked evil. "We will talk in a little while Delektorsky" the man smirked. Eric watched as the man removed his gun and everything went blank. He had hit him in the side of the head with the butt of the gun.

"Did that look so hard you idiots?" He spat. The two men fell silent for the rest of the ride back to their location.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 8 Hours Later XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Eric woke to find himself on the floor of what he guessed was a basement. Very well lit, marble floors with a chandelier above. 'Not typically where you would imagine getting thrown after being kidnapped' Eric thought while trying to take in his surroundings. That's when the aching headache caught up to him. He sat up against a wall and rested his forehead against his bent knees to try and soothe his aching head. He rubbed it only to find a large bump. "Ass hole" he muttered under his breathe. He heard foot steps come towards him.

"Ahhh little Delektorsky, you have finally awoken!" The man said in a sarcastic voice. He dragged a chair across the room and sat in front of him. Eric looked up at this mysterious man and squinted his eyes in attempted to relieve some of the pain in his head. "It's about time I finally got to meet you, don't you think?" The man said jokingly with a thick Russian accent. 'How does he know my last name?' Eric thought. But then he took the mans accent into account. It had to of been through his father. "My name is _Vladimir, __nice to finally meet you Eric."_

_**Alright guys so this one was short because the next one is going to be really long! I will be updating tomorrow so stay tuned! Review what you think will happen or how you liked the story so far!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Hope this one makes up for the super short last one! Thank you all for your reviews yet again! You guys never let me down : )**

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"_My name is_ _Vladimir, nice to finally meet you Eric."_

_It all hit him. He remembered his dad talking about getting into trouble with a man named Vladimir. He mentioned that they used to be good friends back in Russia but that after he had lent his father money that he could not repay things got difficult. Not aware that this man was apart of the Russian mob also caused some problems. He had already saved his father once from the Russian mob and he hadn't seen him since he had gone into hiding. However this man wasn't with the Russian mob. He was with the Muerte Trae. _

_"I don't know where he is if that is what you brought me here for" Eric spat. He tried to find a more comfortable sitting position against the wall with no prevail. Vladimir laughed and leant back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. The man wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and placed it back in his pocket. He cleared his throat and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees making him close to perfect eye level with Eric. _

_"You think you would know where he is if I didn't already?" The tall Russian asked in a rhetorical way. "Of course not!" His answered his own question with a booming voice throwing his arms up in the air for added emphasis. "No, no, no. I brought you here because you see, I still haven't gotten my money back. And you're the next closest thing." He said with a twisted smile as he tapped Eric's shoulder with a finger. Eric jerked away from the mans touch. _

_"What, do you think I carry thousands of dollars on me at all times?" Eric asked sarcastically and rolled his eyes. This entire situation was pathetic. He risked his life to save his father and what does he get? More trouble on his behalf. He instantly regretted ever helping him. He knew what this man was capable and he was not in the place to be upsetting him. He started to regret the words that came out of his mouth the second he felt Vladimir's foot come into contact with his ribs. _

_"Now, we don't need that attitude now do we? Not very polite!" Vladimir scuffed. He crouched down by Eric's ear. "You see Eric, I know you don't have the money, but I know who you work with, and I assure you that they are looking for you right now. All I have to do is trade you off for my money and our business here will be done." He finished as he stood up and wiped his hands off on his slacks. "Jugo, get him some crackers or something, and get me a secured line to the Miami Dade Police Department." He ordered as he walked out of the room with the same smirk he came in with. He reached the top of the steps and stopped for a moment. "You know Eric, it's a shame we got off on the wrong foot. I thought it might be nice to get to meet your friends on better terms" he said over his shoulder. He waited a moment and then continued up the stairs and shut the door. _

_Eric woke up the next day with a pain in his ribs and a growling stomach. The crackers that had been thrown down the stairs the night before had hardly done anything to help his hunger. Hours went by and Eric had began to pace around the elegant basement looking for something to get him out of here or at least to contact the lab. He had realized long ago that they had taken his badge, gun, and cell phone. Of course. His headache had started to subside to the pain of what a normal headache might be. "Can you knock that off, you're making me dizzy" Jugo muttered while keeping his eyes on his phone. Eric ignored his request and kept looking around. Eric didn't find him as a threat even though he had a gun. There were no windows in the basement. Just a stair case that lead up stairs to what he only could assume was the main floor. Eric gave up for the time being and sat down in a chair adjacent to Jugo. Eric just watched him carefully as he continued intently starring at his phone. He looked up with an arched eye brow. "Can I help you?" He finally asked with a large amount of irritation in his voice. Eric shook his head. The tall Cuban put his phone back in his pocket and leaned forward. "Do you even know how much your dad owes him?" He asked quietly while gesturing towards the ceiling. Eric rolled his eyes, clearly not interested in the conversation. The man threw his arms up in mock surrender. "Hey, I'm just trying to make small talk man, make your time here a little less miserable" He responded and leant back in his chair. _

_"Why is it that you're down here anyways?" Eric said plainly as he stood back up again to pace. Sitting made him feel helpless, even though at the time being he was. _

_"Vladimir went out to go visit your friends. And by visit I mean drop off a note." Jugo explained. Eric was hardly listening. He tried not to seem interested even though in his heart he felt a little trace of hope. If anyone could get him out of here it was his team. "Anyways, means I gotta watch you. Make sure you don't run away or nothing" He finished while becoming suddenly interested with a fuzzy on his shirt. _

_"What's he need a note for if he was going to call them?" Eric asked with a raised eye brow. The clearly unqualified man across from him shifted in his seat and then stood. "We couldn't figure out how to secure a line. It's harder than it seems alright?" He said sounding defensive. Eric had to use all he had not to smile. These two men working under Vladimir were complete idiots. _

_"I don't really see the purpose of a note…" Eric said. He was purposely trying to get information out of this gullible man beside him. Eric looked down at his shoes pretending to look as though he could care less. "Something about him wanting to meet at some location in two days with the money." Jugo stated plainly as he scraped dirt out from under his nails. Eric now knew that he had to stick it out two more days until things would settle out. He had already been here two days now.. He just hoped the team would come up with something good. _

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Back at the Lab XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

_"I know who took Eric and I know how to find them." She spilled, her face now pink and her breathing finally catching up to her. He sat back down in his chair and motioned to the chair across from him for her to sit. She stepped forward and laid them all out handing him different papers and pointing out several details. He took it all in. They would formulate a plan and go into action later that day. Help was finally on its way._

"Earlier today I had received a note informing us of a location to meet in two days. They want $50,000 in exchange for Eric." Horatio stated with a flat voice. Calleigh looked at him with confusion.

"Why haven't you mentioned this to anyone?" Calleigh ventured to ask. She typically never questioned Horatio but she felt compelled at this point. He looked down and then finally back up to her. "Because I'm not so sure we will have had that amount of time." He said with a trace of sadness. "I think our best bet is to try and get to him before then. They know they will have to keep him until the trade off, but there is no purpose in keeping him unharmed during the trade." Horatio tried to explain. Calleigh nodded. She agreed that going in early was the best bet. "So, you think it has to do with this Vladimir character. What do we know?" Horatio asked. Calleigh began to explain how he was the only Russian man in contact with this gang, also that most of their killings had been related to money issues. The more she spoke the easier it was to connect the dots. Horatio had known about the scenario with Eric's father, Calleigh knew by default after seeing him drive off the crime scene. Neither spoke of it to anyone else. She rambled on for a while growing more and more excited about what she had found.

"And the bullet!" She finished. "It was fired from Eric's weapon, the blood on it belongs to Juan Rosario. Member of the Muerte Trae for only two years. He has a brother names Jugo who is also a member." She concluded.

"All of this is great work, but none of this places Vladimir as our main suspect" Horatio corrected. Calleigh grew a wicked smile across her face. She pulled out a piece of paper from a folder and placed it in front of Horatio. "The blood on the bullet from Juan has DNA that is in common with Vladimir that was already in the system." She stated thinking that would explain it all. Horatio didn't seem to follow. "He is the Uncle of Juan and I would assume Jugo as well. They all reside in a house in Tampa Bay, but rent a house here in Miami." Calleigh continued. "Vladimir used to be apart of the Russian mob and moved here around the same time that Eric's father did…" her voice trailed off at the sound of her own voice saying Eric's name. "He then joined the Muerte Trae relatively soon after Eric's father went into hiding." Calleigh finished. Horatio sat back in his chair for a moment.

"We do not mention anything concerning Eric's father to the team understood?" Horatio asked with his eyes still down. Calleigh nodded. It was obvious they wouldn't, her and Horatio were the only ones who knew and they took pride in keeping it quite to protect one of their own. They spent the next hour plotting out how they would get to the house and get Eric out with the minimum amount of injury. Eventually they had formulated a full proof plan. Horatio sent Calleigh home to get some sleep before they made their move tomorrow on their last day. This plan had to work. It was their last option.

**There you go guys! A nice long chapter to satisfy your cravings! Next chapter is going to be super intense! Some gun fire? Is Eric still okay? Does the team successfully rescue him? What about Vladimir?! Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys so I don't know why the last chapter put half of the words in italics… Definitely didn't write it that way. I tried re-uploading the chapter and the same thing happened. So here is to hoping that this one comes out normal!**

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_"We send in one of our own" he said simply. Ryan just stared unaware of what he meant or how that would work but he trusted the man in front of him._

_"I'll tell the team to meet in the break room" Ryan stated plainly as he rose from his seat and started to walk towards the door. Once he was almost out of the room Horatio said the first convincing thing that Ryan had heard that day._

_"We will find him." And with that Ryan turned back around and headed to the various different areas of the building to gather their team._

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Day 3 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ryan had grabbed Natalia and Trip and went to get Calleigh when he realized the armory was empty. He headed to the break room and figured he would just page her instead. The three walked in a nervous silence. The tension in the lab had been so thick the past two days that silence had become a new custom. Even people that weren't directly apart of the team were quiet. Everyone knew Eric Delko and the fact that he was missing was something that nobody took lightly.

"Did H mention anything about what the plan was" Natalia asked in attempt to break the silence. Something about the silence made her feel uncomfortable. It wasn't that it was awkward, it just made it all feel so much more depressing. She wanted to believe that Eric was fine and that they would get him and have their happy team back together, but with the way everyone had been acting lately the chances of that seemed slim. The odds were not in his favor and it was clear that everyone knew, but nobody was willing to admit it.

"The only thing he said was that he was going to send in 'one of our own'" Ryan said with air quotations. Trip scratched the top of his balding head and pondered what that meant. They had no lead on where Eric was, how did he intend on sending someone in? "Where is it that he plans on sending someone?" Trip asked aloud. Ryan was about to answer when Natalia cut him off. "We should just be happy we have some sort of plan at this point" she said quietly. The men on either side of her silently nodded in agreement. Ryan nudged her arm as a sign of understanding. A few steps later they arrived at the break room. Trip opened the door and they all stepped in. It was the first time that any of them had seen the break room completely empty. It was almost disheartening.

They all walked in and awkwardly stood around the large room. Horatio stood at the back against a counter with a wood table in front of him with files on it. He motioned with his hands to the seats nearest to the table. They all took a seat as Ryan walked about to Horatio to inform him that he couldn't find Calleigh. Right as he was about to open his mouth Calleigh came out of the bathroom to the side of the room in her typical apparel. A pair of black slacks and stilettos as well as a maroon colored long sleeve blouse. On top of it though she wore a black vest with three buttons up the middle. Her hair was straight and glossy and her makeup had been set perfectly. "Well there is our southern bell" Trip said with a large, jolly smile trying to lighten the mood. Calleigh gave way to a small smile trying her best to keep her composure. Truthfully she didn't feel good about this at all. She was still tired, her head hurt, and her heart was in her stomach. She stepped towards Horatio with her hands behind her back. Her gave her a shy smile and she returned one. Natalia watched the exchange and realized that whatever this plan was, neither of them were entirely sure that it would work. Ryan frowned as he too watched the exchange. Trip let the smile fade from his face and they all fell into a silence again. Calleigh remained standing at the front. 'He's sending in Calleigh' Ryan thought and he instantly felt worried. She was without a doubt the best with a gun, but she was also his favorite partner in crime. He would rather take her place in a heartbeat. Horatio cleared his throat.

"We have a pretty good idea of where Eric may be." Calleigh started with a flat voice. Trip scooted forward in his chair putting his elbows on his knees. "We have connected the blood found on the bullet Eric fired to a member of the Cuban gang the Muerte Trae." She continued while looking each of them slowly in the eye. Ryan nodded at the mention of the name as he recalled Calleigh bringing it to his attention before it all happened. "When looking through the other gang members we also found his brother and uncle were apart of the same group." Horatio again cleared his throat to give her a mental reminder to leave out the part about the eldest man's Russian name and how it was likely related in some way to Eric's father. She nodded and looked down at the floor to collect her thoughts.

Ryan raised an eye brow at this odd behavior they were both exhibiting. He looked over down the line of chairs to Trip and Natalia who both wore similar looks of suspicion. "As we know there were three men involved in taking Eric, the two men who took him, and the man driving. We are convinced that these men are the ones we have identified." Calleigh finished finally looking up to the group.

"So we are assuming that because we have the identity of one person that the other two just happen to be relatives?" Natalia asked. Something didn't match up here. Trip nodded in agreement, this story did seem to be getting fishy. Calleigh opened her mouth with no response. "The uncle has been a member for quite a few years now where as the two younger men have only been around for about two. In most scenarios the initiates would have to follow around and help the patrons. Seeing as this is their uncle, it is likely that these are the three from the scene" Horatio tried to explain. Natalia seemed to take it as the truth as she finally relaxed back into the hard plastic chair.

"So what's the plan here then?" Trip quickly inserted, wanting to get to the point as quickly as possible. "They all reside together in Tampa Bay, however they are renting a house here in Miami." Calleigh began to describe while stretching a file to each of the three people who sat in front of her. They all began flipping through the pages of the case files and the house information. "The house they have been renting is late on payments" Calleigh said with a smirk, she had to admit, she was pretty proud of the information she had put together.

"Not to be a buzz kill here but what does any of this have to do with finding Eric?" Ryan asked impatiently as he ran a hand through his hair. Horatio stepped forward. "I received a letter saying they wanted to meet tomorrow at a location only 30 miles from this house in Miami. That's likely to prove that that is the location they are residing at, otherwise they would have presented a location closer to their place in Tampa Bay." Horatio explain. Natalia smiled as she began to regain hope in finding Eric.

"Alright so how are we gonna do this?" She quipped, now fully invested into this plan. Ryan and Trip picked off her energy and smiled as well. Horatio allowed for a small smirk to show out of the corner of his mouth.

"Well, our real estate agent here is going to ask to come in to see the place and to discuss some payment options." He began while gesturing to Calleigh. "We are going to surround the house and pick off windows with good view. Calleigh will be wearing an ear wig so we can hear what's going on but also, so that she can communicate to us. She is going to _hopefully_ find her was to Eric while communicating to us what we are working against and then notify us of such so we can move in." Horatio finished. Trip nodded with a straight face, Natalia stood up ready to go, but Ryan remained seated. "Wolfe, is there something you'd like to add?" Horatio asked in a monotone. Ryan looked up with a face of almost defeat.

"How do we know there aren't a dozen armed men in there? What happens if they find out she's a cop?" He questioned. Calleigh looked down at her feet. She appreciated his concern but really they had no other choice at this point. This was their best chance and she was their best shot.

"She's got a Kevlar vest for one", Trip mentioned. Natalia did a double take. You couldn't even tell. Must be new to their equipment. She didn't even bother to question how the large Texan noticed. "And she's got us as back up for two." Horatio finished while patting Ryan on the shoulder. Everyone one else rose and headed to the door. "We take two cars. Calleigh is with me, you three in the other. Follow my lead once we arrive." They all began to walk out as Calleigh rushed up to Ryan.

"Hey" she said with a small smile as she brushed his arm. His face warmed up a little bit to her smile. "I'm gonna be okay alright?" She added. He nodded softly. They continued walking for a little while. "But if I'm not, just remember if you're fault" She added again with a chuckle and nudged him. He finally laughed and shoved her back. "Jerk" he joked. He felt better about the situation. If Calleigh wasn't nervous then he shouldn't be either. They had pulled stunts like this off a million times. What made this so different?

They each got into their assigned vehicle and drove for a while. Every now and again Calleigh would say something to make sure the back vehicle could copy. Everything was going to be fine, or so they thought.

**OKAY OKAY before you guys get mad I will admit that I didn't add in all the action like I said I would. It's next chapter! I just felt like it was important to add in this one to show how they all work and car for each other as a team. I always admired that about them on the show! Next chapter I pinky promise! It is already written and I will post it within the next two days depending on how nice you guys are haha! Review and let me know what you think is going to happen! Will someone get hurt? Are they right about the location? How has Eric been this past day?**


	6. Chapter 6

**You guys are seriously the best! So many reviews and great commentary! I love hearing from you guys!**

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The team had all been driving for about twenty minutes when finally Horatio turned onto what seemed like a neighborhood. The houses were large with at least 50 yards of space between them. It's no wonder there was no suspicious activity reported. They took another turn and saw the house they were looking for. It looked just as all the rest of them, two stories with a two car garage.

The sun was out and the weather was perfectly warm. It seemed to give an odd twist to the current circumstances. In this perfectly spotless house before them there was likely their lost team mate. Ryan pulled his jeep off into a drive way a few houses down. Trip got out to talk to the seemingly confused owner of the house to explain the current situation. After a moment the man nodded and shook hands with Trip as he returned back to his half of the team. The three of them watched as Horatio parked his Honda Civic on the curb next to their destination. He drove his car as not to raise suspension with a giant Hummer that read "Miami Dade Police Department" on the sides. Calleigh got out and Horatio drove to the three member of his team.

Natalia, Ryan and Trip piled into the Civic and waited a moment before they made any movement. Ryan watched out the window as Calleigh rang the doorbell. She wiped her hands on the sides of her pants and stood straight. She was nervous. That was her famous nervous trait was her sweaty palms. Natalia smirked remembering her joking about it only a few weeks earlier. The easy going thought was shaken from her head as a man opening the door. He stood in the small space that he allowed the door to be open. Calleigh reached out a hand "Hi, my name is Calleigh and I'm looking to speak to the owner of the house about some payments?" They heard her say through the piece she was wearing. The figure opened the door a little more so they could get a good view of his face.

"That's Jugo" trip confirmed as he held up a sheet of paper with the mans face printed on it. Horatio nodded while keeping his eyes on the scene a few houses down from them. Jugo ran a hand through his mop-like hair and leaned against the door. "The owner isn't in right now" He replied in a raspy voice. "Alright, well do you know when he or she might be back in?" She asked with a smile on her face. She was getting all of this information so easily. The man shook his head and rubbed his stubble covered face, "In like an hour or so, he went out to get some food it shouldn't be long" He replied almost sounding irritated.

"Well, that's no problem, if you would be so kind as to let me look around I could put a hold on the payments so long as I can confirm there has been no damage done to the property!" She replied in a chipper voice. The man didn't budge. Ryan must've been holding his breath because as soon as he heard the words "Yeah alright fine just gimmie a second to clean up a little bit alright?" from the large Cuban he let out a sigh of relief. Calleigh raised a hand as if she was about to protest but the door was shut in her face before she could. "Horatio? Can you guys hear me?" She said in a whispered tone. "Loud and clear Calleigh, you are doing great. The second you get in there we're going to move in alright?" Horatio replied through a small microphone he had on his shirt to match Calleigh's. She held a thumb up behind her back. A moment later the door opened and the groggy looking man behind it let her in. The door shut and it was officially game time.

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Eric didn't know if it was morning or night at this point. He guessed it was early morning. His headache had finally subsided but his ribs were still in pain from where he had been repeatedly kicked earlier. That was Vladimir's hobby he thought. He finally got some water and a cold slice of pizza last night so that was a bonus. Jugo spent nearly all hours of the day with him including when he had to go to the bathroom. They shared some small talk every now and then. Mostly Eric trying to get any kind of evidence he could to use against these ass holes. He almost felt bad for the kid. It was clear that Juan was the more dominant of the two since he was constantly out with Vladimir while Jugo was always on sitter watch. He was harmless. He held a gun but Eric doubted that he could fire it effectively at a target.

He had been alone in the basement for what seemed like hours which meant it had previously been night time. That was the only time Eric was left alone in the now three days he'd been here. A few minutes later a groggy Jugo stomped down the stairs. 'Definitely morning' Eric thought as a bag of dry cereal was thrown at him. "Breakfast" Jugo muttered as he took his usual stance in the chair across the room as he sipped his coffee. Eric ate what he was handed. Today was day three which meant he just had to force himself through this day and tomorrow he would hopefully see the team again. He hadn't seen much of Vladimir the past two days except for the occasional glance and laugh.

Eric decided to try to entertain himself. "You know, you could stop hurting people and maybe, I dunno, go to school like normal people your age" Eric suggested without looking up from the bag of sugar coated carbs. He heard a huff from the man a few feet away from him who was yet again glued to his phone. "School wasn't for me, I don't need the lecture, I'm fine where I am" replied Jugo with a snarl.

"I'm sure baby sitting a 35 year old all day and night is really paying off huh?" Eric pushed as he gestured to himself. Jugo looked as though he was going to make some kind of remark when they both were interrupted by a door bell. Jugo rolled his eyes and stood. "Keep your mouth shut, I'll be right back" He ordered as he pointed his gun at Eric and headed up the stairs. Eric got up and stood at the bottom of the steps to see who was upstairs. He tried listening to one of Vladimirs conversations yesterday which just earned him another set of kicks to the ribs while being held back by Juan. He never learned.

"Hi, my name is Calleigh" he heard. His heart raced a mile a minute. They were here, they had found him. He wanted nothing more than to break open the door and run up the stairs but Vladimir and Juan were likely there and him against three didn't seem like the brightest of ideas.

He waited but could hardly hear anything. He heard the front door shut and he quickly walked to a further wall as to avoid looking distrustful. Jugo came quickly down the stairs and started looking furiously around the room. "There's some real estate lady up there who wants to see the house, you gotta go somewhere." He rushed. Eric wanted to smile so badly. Calleigh was a smart one indeed. "You know what, just stay down here and don't make any sounds you got it?!" He finished as he ran back up stairs and locked the door. Eric paced the room, he needed a plan and fast. This was his ticket out of here.

**Alrighty guys, leading up to getting Eric out safely… hopefully…**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the wait! Things have been really busy lately! Also my birthday is this Wednesday! So load me up with reviews!**

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Calleigh took in her surroundings. The house was very spacious but had a very sparse amount of furniture. The occasional couch or painting but no family photos. The walls were all still painted white. It seems as though they had hardly lived there. She followed the man into the kitchen where joined him at a table. "Alright so what do you need to see?" Juan said quickly as he paced. He seemed nervous. But why? Calleigh gave another calm smile. "Well first I wanted to talk about how your experience here has been so far, is everything working fine?" Calleigh asked with a cheerful voice. The Cuban stopped for a moment and stared at her like she was speaking another language. "Yes, yes it's all working fine. No problems, everything is perfect." He replied in a rushed tone. He looked past her out the front window to see if Vladimir had come back yet. He knew he would be furious if he found a strange woman in their house.

"And you said the owner of the home was not in? Is there anyone else here that I could speak to?" Calleigh ventured. All she needed was a yes or a no and she could make a move.

"Calleigh we are in position, we have visual of one man" Calleigh heard Ryan say calmly through her ear piece. Juan was looking on edge and for some reason it gave Calleigh an uneasy feeling. This Vladimir character must not be a pleasant one to be around. Judging by all of the murders he's been accused of it was easy to believe.

"No there is no one else here. He will be back soon and then you can see him now not to be rude but he really doesn't like surprises so could you please leave?" Juan rushed. Small beads of sweat were beginning to gather on his head. She had the go ahead to move on. She could easily get past him to search the house. She was about to move when she over heard noises through the mic.

"Excuse me, might I ask what you are doing on my property?" She heard a man call in a thick Russian accent. All she could hear after that was grunts and yelling. She had to move now. "Miami Dade Police Department" She yelled in a firm voice as she removed her gun from the back of her waistband. Juan immediately raised his arms above his head. No fight at all. He actually looked terrified. She was about to take the gun she spotted from behind his back in the same location that her weapon previously resided when she heard a door open.

She didn't hear anyone call out, her team would've yelled something. Come to think of it her mic had been silent for the past minute. "Is anyone there?" She called out hoping to get some type of response whether it be from the microphone or from whoever just entered the house. She raised her gun after having taken Juan's. Right as she turned she heard a gunshot echo from outside the house. She turned quickly to see out a window in hopes of seeing someone but nothing.

"Who the hell are you?" She heard from behind her. She turned with her gun up and ready only to feel a sharp pain cut into her thigh. It sounded like white noise inside her head. She fired immediately after hitting the man in the chest once. He fell and didn't move. It was Jugo. Juan yelled and tried to move after him and Calleigh turned her gun back on him. "Do not move" She ordered. She had almost forgotten about the pain in her leg until the high pitched noise began making it difficult to hear her own voice. Apparently it made it difficult to hear a lot of things because shortly after Natalia and Horatio came in through the same way Jugo did. Natalia stopped to find a pulse on the presumably dead body as Horatio approached Juan and Calleigh with his gun raised. He looked at Calleigh seriously, she looked pale again. He didn't see the blood soaking through her right pant leg though as she was wearing black slacks. "Where is he?" He asked Juan assuming he knew who they were talking about. He was disoriented and had his eyes focused on his brother. Calleigh rolled her eyes and walked out of the kitchen back to the main area with her gun raised. "Eric?" She yelled, "Call out".

"Calleigh?!" She heard a muffled sound and banging. She easily found the basement door and undid the dead bolt. She opened the door to see an extremely dirty and sweaty Eric. He seemed to be free of injury from what she could tell. She gave a smile of relief and felt confused when he stared at her wide eyed as if she had interrupted something. She was just happy. She had found their team mate, she had trusted her gut and all of her hours of research had been correct. She felt happy. And very tired now that she thought about it. She looked at Eric as his mouth moved but she couldn't make out the words.

For a moment she felt panicked, but then she just felt comfy. Eric was yelling now, she still didn't know what. She couldn't care. She was going to a nice sleep. Somehow she was laying on the floor up against Eric's squatted body. She saw Horatio come running to her. He pushed some hair out of her face and she weakly smiled again. She didn't understand why every looked so upset. They had done it! Horatio took off his jacket and tied it around her leg as she saw Natalia yell something into her cell phone.

She was finally going to try and ask why everyone was acting so funny when the edges of her vision began to turn black and fuzzy. Maybe after a nap she would. She felt herself being picked up and saw Eric's dirt covered face looking down at her. She closed her eyes and finally went to sleep.

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Eric continued to pace the basement when he heard yelling. Something had to of gone wrong. Then a small thump. Could that have been gun fire? Everything sounded quiet down there. Then suddenly a loud shot. That one was definitely a gun shot. Quickly followed by another. He began to panic, he hadn't heard any voices. He ran up to the top of the steps to hopefully hear something. "Do not move" He heard from Calleigh. A wave of relief washed over him as he now knew that at least she was okay. His Calleigh. He would've been mortified if something happened to her while she was trying to get to him. He'd lay his life down for her any day, he would never want it the other way around.

He heard lots of foot steps but no more gun fire. It had to be the rest of the team. "Call out" He heard Calleigh yell. He yelled her name as loud as he could from the sound proofed basement. He pounded on the door to help her find his location. He heard the various sounds of locks being moved and switched and finally it opened. He saw her all in one piece. He scanned her. She smiled but she looked pale. And her smile was odd. Not fake, but lazy. He knew something wasn't right. He scanned down her body and saw nothing wrong until he saw the red puddle that was beginning to form around her foot. He went wide eyed as he finally noticed the fabric slightly torn on the outside of her thigh. He looked back up to her eyes. "Calleigh you've been shot!" He said. She just smiled.

She most be in shock. Whatever it was it wasn't good. She began to sway and he grabbed her shoulders to steady her. "Calleigh, can you hear me?" He asked a little louder. No response. "CALLEIGH" He yelled and still nothing. Horatio had begun walking towards them when her knee's buckled out under her and he squatted to the ground with her. She was slouched on the ground with her back up against one of Eric's legs. Her tired head rested on his side. He yelled for Horatio even though he was already a few feet away. He immediately wrapped his jacket around as Natalia called for an ambulance. It was such a relief to see everyone. He picked up Calleigh's tired body easily as he began walking towards the door behind Horatio. They must've had back up ready. He looked down at her. She was still smiling and then she closed her eyes. 'Damnit' Eric thought to himself. He saw Jugo's body in a pool of blood on the floor with two officers trying to pull Juan out the door as he resisted. It seemed like he was trying to get back to his brother.

They made it outside and Eric had to squint at the real sun light. He felt Calleigh grow lighter as two men lifted her away and placed her on a gurney and rushed off towards an ambulance. Eric was going to run after her but Horatio stopped him with a firm hand on his chest. "Natalia will go, you need to get checked out first" he replied calmly as he pointed to the back of an ambulance. "But H I.." Eric began until Horatio cut him off. "Get checked first, then you can go" He replied. Eric sighed in defeat. He walked towards the ambulance and received a blanket for over his shoulders. He saw Wolfe shoving Vladimir into the back of a police car and he felt anger wash over him. It was his fault all of this happened. He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white and finally sat down on the back of the ambulance to be evaluated. Anything to get to see Calleigh.

**Okay longer chapter! Finally he is out you guys! But how is Calleigh?! And how will the interrogation with Vladimir go? How is Juan? And most importantly, will Eric ever get to tell Calleigh how he really feels?! What you think will/should happen in the reviews : )**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm baaaack! Hope you all are doing well! And without further ado, the next chapter!**

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After an extremely rushed 15 minutes the paramedics finally cleared Eric saying that he was pretty banged up and dehydrated. They offered to insert an IV which he quickly declined. He was in no way staying here longer than necessary. The two paramedics looked at each other wondering what they should do about the severely uncooperative man in front of them. One of them, a small woman with blonde hair tied into a tight bun behind her head pulled a water bottle out and handed it to him with a small smile. Eric gave a nod in return and hopped off the back of the ambulance and walked toward Horatio who was just ending a phone call upon Eric's arrival.

"Who was that? Any word on Calleigh?" Eric asked while he finished off the last of his water bottle. Although he was not interested in any medical attention he was definitely thirsty. Horatio gestured for Eric to walk with him while he headed over to his vehicle.

"Natalia called, doctors said it just skimmed her thigh, she lost a lot of blood and they're working on replenishing it right now but she is stable and she will be fine." Horatio explained as he continued walking. Eric looked at the sky and covered his face with a sigh of relief. Of course she would be fine. Of course Calleigh Duquense would get shot in the leg, not notice it, go unconscious and somehow make it out fine.

The two were almost to the Hummer when a tall and awkwardly thin detective walked towards them. He was very young, must be new Eric concluded by his quick evaluation of him. "Uhm, Hey! Detective Caine! I ugh, have the recovered evidence you asked for!" He spat out with no control over his mouth. Eric smirked. 'Detective Caine', this kid had to be new. Horatio removed his sun glasses and took the bag from the mans hands.

"Thank you, that will be all" Horatio paused to find a name tag of some sort on the young man, "Harold". Horatio forced a slight smile as he felt bad for this new kid. He was clearly nervous. Harold smiled awkwardly and walked away. Eric looked at the bag and just got into the passenger side of the Hummer. Horatio got in shortly after.

"I believe these belong to you?" Horatio said as he handed the opened bag to Eric. He made a confused face as he raised an eye brow and retrieved the bag from Horatio's grip. Upon opening it he found his badge, wallet, and weapon. Eric smiled as he removed them each one by one and put each of them in their rightful place on his body. Horatio smiled, glad to have his team mate back, but more so to have his friend back.

Five minutes into the drive they stopped at a red light and Eric flinched at the pain in his ribs as the seat belt tightened. Without even turning his head from the road Horatio muttered "I hope you know that you're getting a real check up at the hospital once we get there." Eric loosened his seat belt and slouched down. He knew he had no choice. Now that he knew everything and everyone was fine there was no need to rush.

Upon arriving at the hospital Eric was taken to a small room where he was instructed to wait for his X-ray. He caught his reflection on one of the many shinny surfaces in the room. He looked like hell. A full face of scruff and grime. A bruised forehead. Sweat stains covered his shirt along with many tears. Maybe it was best to get checked out. He hadn't even felt the pain in his head again until he saw how bad he looked. "Damn" he muttered under his breath. He rest he head down in his hands with his elbows on his knees as he tried to get a grip on what the past three days had brought him. His father. Eric thought all of that was done with. Before he could get too far into his thoughts he was pulled out of them by the crack of the door opening.

He looked up to look eyes with a warm familiar face. However she was not returning the same happy greeting that he was. She stood poised, hands on her hips with an unamused look on her face. "Do you always need to be getting into trouble?" Alex Woods remarked as she took in Eric's appearance. Eric offered a grin and Alex couldn't help but smile back. "I expect a full story later on but for now, how are you doin baby?" Alex cooed as she ran a gloved hand over Eric's forehead.

"Eh, yah know, been better" Eric joked. Alex rolled her eyes and began to walk back to the door. "Do you need me to wheel you over there or can you walk?" She asked, half joking and half serious. Eric laughed and walked behind her following her lead. After walking for a little while Eric finally spoke up.

"I don't know my way around hospitals but I feel like it shouldn't be this long of a walk to wherever we should be going" he gently nudged. Alex stopped and looked at him. She raised a finger to his face. "Now, I know you haven't told me nearly as much as I would like to know, but in all that time I worked with you I think I got a few things straight. One of those being that you would probably like to see your girlfriend." She finished. Feeling accomplished she stepped back and crossed her arms waiting to see if he could muster up another comment.

"She's not my girlfriend Alex but yes it would be great to see her." Eric muttered. Alex rolled her eyes after the first half of his statement and waved a sarcastic arm up in the air as she turned around and continued walking. Eric huffed and followed suite. "Yeah yeah sure you've both been preaching it since day one but I can see it." She stated matter of factly. Eric couldn't help but smile at the idea of dating Calleigh. He did always have feelings for her but he would never admit that.

"Anyways you have 20 minutes and that's it. I'm gonna do my rounds and come back to get you. Don't think you got out of that x-ray." She said as she looked deep into his eyes. Alex always knew Eric's thinking almost like a mother. She motioned to her eyes, then his, and back to hers again. Eric couldn't help but laugh at her attempt at being intimidating. She smiled and pointed to a room on the corner.

Eric walked slowly to the room and made it there just as a nurse was walking out smiling. "Ice please" he heard a small voice call from the room. The nurse shook his head and smiled as he continued his path to where he assumed was to get Calleigh water. Eric took a deep breath. He didn't know why he felt nervous, this was just his co-worker. Nothing has changed. He turned the corner and walked in.

Calleigh shot a wide toothed smile at Eric as she tried pushing herself to a more upright position in the hospital bed. She winced and gave up. "Hey! You've only been here a little while could you at least try to get better?" Eric joked as he pulled up a chair next to her bed. Her room smelt of rubbing alcohol and flowers. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she looked him over.

"You know, I haven't really seen my reflection but I'm pretty sure you look worse than I do." She replied with a smirk. Eric smiled at the ground and tugged at his beaten up shirt. "Well you see, I didn't really have time to get ready this morning you know, being held captive and all." He said with a smile. Calleigh's smile grew smaller as she held eye contact with him.

"We we're all really worried about you Eric" she said quietly with a serious face. Eric dropped his smile. He couldn't imagine how bad it must have been for them. But Calleigh looked so different when she said it. He tried not to think too hard on it. "I know.." He replied. It's all he could think to say. "I… was really worried about you" He finished trying to fill the empty worded room. Calleigh looked down at her hands, she remembered the last thing she saw was Eric screaming, he looked terrified. She couldn't imagine the toll she put on him.

Eric placed a bruised hand over hers and squeezed lightly. She couldn't help but smile a little at the contact. "But we both made it out alive right?" She offered with a smile. "Ninja status as always" Eric through in with a laugh. He let go of her hand, he didn't want her to get the wrong idea. Not that the idea was wrong, he just didn't know how she felt. Likely not in his favor.

"You know, I could tell you were yelling before everything went black, but I couldn't hear a single thing." Calleigh started again. Eric looked at her for a moment and replayed it all in his head.

"I was yelling your name. You weren't responding at all. I was just desperately trying to get you to snap out of it and you wouldn't. I thought that was going to be the end of it right there. I couldn't let that happen, there's so much more that I needed to do and say to you." Eric responded wanting to eat his words the second they left his mouth. 'Well there that goes. So much for subtle' He thought to himself. Kicking himself on the inside for making himself too obvious. Calleigh looked up and tilted her head to the side.

"Do and say? Like what? You've always told me everything." Calleigh asked aloud. Before Eric could open his mouth Alex walked in. "Alright Delko, deals a deal. X-ray now." She said with a sad face. She almost felt bad for tearing him away from her. She turned to walk away and looked over her shoulder. "And Calleigh, I know I told you to prop that leg up." She finished, and with that she walked out of the room. Eric and Calleigh both smirked and Alex's know all senses.

"I'll stop back in after I'm done." He said simply while pushing himself up from the chair. He turned to walk out of the room and was almost to the door when Calleigh said "I had some things to say too". Eric stopped for a moment with his back still towards her, he wanted to turn back and tell her everything right then but he didn't want to get ahead of himself and get his own hopes up. He continued his walk behind Alex to get examined and thought so deeply about what she could possibly want to say. Maybe once this was over he would have the courage to tell her. Or maybe, he would just turn his back and pretend he had never said it. To protect not only his heart, but hers.

**OKAY! Huge chapter for you guys since you are all still here reading thank you so so much for sticking by me : ) I hope you really like this and it was fulfilling enough to make up for my absence! New chapter to come sooner this time! Leave me ideas of what you want to see next!**


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